Modern Animal - Turkey VultureTeratornis merriami
A skeleton from the La Brea tar pits
The Teratornis merriami was one of the largest known flight-capable bird in North America. They have a wingspan of 3.5 to 4.8 meters. It is estimated that it's around 75cm tall and weighed around 15kg. The teratornis merriami is larger than the Andean Condor and is almost two times as heavy as the California Condor. A closely related species, the Aiolornis, was around 40% larger, who lived in a earlier time. The Teratornis merriami is formerly known as the Teratornis incredibilis.
Binomial name: Teratornis merriami
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Falconiformes
Family
Teratornithidae
Species
T. merriami
Habitat:
Where the Teratornis merriami lived The habitat of the Teratornis merriami may lived around in the Americas, along the open grassland and the rise of the Andes (the world's longest continental mountain range). It's also known that they might live in the southern Patagonia (southernmost part of South America). The Teratornis merriami's habitat were not as open as other birds, as they lived in coastal shrubs and woodlands in the state of California, especially from La Brea Tar Pits in the Los Angeles area. Not only did they live in California, they also lived in Florida, New Mexico, and Mexico.
Adaptations: Behavioural Adaptation 1 - Walking
The Teratornis merriami was very capable of walking well and stalking. But somehow, they are not capable of running. It's known that they are more adapted for moving on the ground than condors. This is because they have relatively longer and stouter legs than the Old World Vultures, therefore, they are good when hunting food on the ground. One animal that they had chased is the Dire Wolf.
Behavioural Adaptation 2 - Hunting Teratorns are known as large scavengers. They have long beaks and wide gapes, like the beak of an eagle. Therefore, they can swallow their prey in one whole. Since they have long and stout legs, they would stalk their prey on the ground. Then, they would take off to fly to another place to feed or to their nests. The food that the Teratornis merriami had hunted were mammals, reptiles, and amphibians that were on the ground. There is also a possibility that they may have hunted fish in freshwaters ares. One of the predators that the Teratornis merriami had hunted are the Dire Wolf and the Creodonts .
Structural Adaptation 1 - Fingerbones In all the birds, their fingerbones are mostly connected, but not in the Teratornis merriami. Their index finger have been partially evolved into a wide shelf. This aids them to support the load of long primaries, which utilizes the up-currents. With the help of the fingerbones, they can fly through strong winds without getting injured. What a fingerbone looks like
Structural Adaptation 2 - Wings The wings of the Teratornis merriami is quite long - 7.3152 metres! The Teratornis merriami does amazing tricks when flying with these wings - they can take off, do twist and turns, then end up on a small tree branch. The reason why the Teratornis merriami and its future generations can glide is based on the wings. The Teratornis merriami takes advantage of an upward movement of wind called thermal. With the thermal, the Teratornis merriami can rest its wings on the air and glide.
Extinction Pressure
These species may have been extincted, due to climatic shifts at the end of the last ice age, which led to ecological alternations around the globe. With the ice age, many fish and animals were extinct, which led to a reduction of the Teratornis merriami 's food. Not only that, the Teratornis merriami was extinct due to human hunting. With the increasing influence on the habitat, most large land animal vanished.
Even though they are a better hunter than the another vulture - California Condor - they were inferior as a predator of hawks and eagles. Teratornis merriami didn't have a big digestive system and didn't have a big diet. They only ate land animals and not dead marine animals. Therefore, they couldn't survive their extinction and eventually got extinct.
La Brea Tar Pits, which included other fauna (Teratornis merriami on the top left hand corner) Links:
A skeleton from the La Brea tar pits
The Teratornis merriami was one of the largest known flight-capable bird in North America. They have a wingspan of 3.5 to 4.8 meters. It is estimated that it's around 75cm tall and weighed around 15kg. The teratornis merriami is larger than the Andean Condor and is almost two times as heavy as the California Condor. A closely related species, the Aiolornis, was around 40% larger, who lived in a earlier time. The Teratornis merriami is formerly known as the Teratornis incredibilis.
Binomial name: Teratornis merriami
Where the Teratornis merriami lived The habitat of the Teratornis merriami may lived around in the Americas, along the open grassland and the rise of the Andes (the world's longest continental mountain range). It's also known that they might live in the southern Patagonia (southernmost part of South America). The Teratornis merriami's habitat were not as open as other birds, as they lived in coastal shrubs and woodlands in the state of California, especially from La Brea Tar Pits in the Los Angeles area. Not only did they live in California, they also lived in Florida, New Mexico, and Mexico.
Adaptations:
Behavioural Adaptation 1 - Walking
The Teratornis merriami was very capable of walking well and stalking. But somehow, they are not capable of running. It's known that they are more adapted for moving on the ground than condors. This is because they have relatively longer and stouter legs than the Old World Vultures, therefore, they are good when hunting food on the ground. One animal that they had chased is the Dire Wolf.
Behavioural Adaptation 2 - Hunting
Teratorns are known as large scavengers. They have long beaks and wide gapes, like the beak of an eagle. Therefore, they can swallow their prey in one whole. Since they have long and stout legs, they would stalk their prey on the ground. Then, they would take off to fly to another place to feed or to their nests. The food that the Teratornis merriami had hunted were mammals, reptiles, and amphibians that were on the ground. There is also a possibility that they may have hunted fish in freshwaters ares. One of the predators that the Teratornis merriami had hunted are the Dire Wolf and the Creodonts .
Structural Adaptation 1 - Fingerbones
In all the birds, their fingerbones are mostly connected, but not in the Teratornis merriami. Their index finger have been partially evolved into a wide shelf. This aids them to support the load of long primaries, which utilizes the up-currents. With the help of the fingerbones, they can fly through strong winds without getting injured.
What a fingerbone looks like
Structural Adaptation 2 - Wings
The wings of the Teratornis merriami is quite long - 7.3152 metres! The Teratornis merriami does amazing tricks when flying with these wings - they can take off, do twist and turns, then end up on a small tree branch. The reason why the Teratornis merriami and its future generations can glide is based on the wings. The Teratornis merriami takes advantage of an upward movement of wind called thermal. With the thermal, the Teratornis merriami can rest its wings on the air and glide.
Extinction Pressure
These species may have been extincted, due to climatic shifts at the end of the last ice age, which led to ecological alternations around the globe. With the ice age, many fish and animals were extinct, which led to a reduction of the Teratornis merriami 's food. Not only that, the Teratornis merriami was extinct due to human hunting. With the increasing influence on the habitat, most large land animal vanished.
Even though they are a better hunter than the another vulture - California Condor - they were inferior as a predator of hawks and eagles. Teratornis merriami didn't have a big digestive system and didn't have a big diet. They only ate land animals and not dead marine animals. Therefore, they couldn't survive their extinction and eventually got extinct.
La Brea Tar Pits, which included other fauna (Teratornis merriami on the top left hand corner)
Links: